Ostrich and Emu Space

Everyone out there - go see that movie. It's hilarious! :-) (even the malaysian version, where all the 'too hot stuff' is cut out, is great!)

We recently returned from our 4 day honeymoon to Hanoi and Halong Bay. We loved it - especially Halong Bay, where we took a cruise on the Valentine boat and had 2 days/1 night to marvel at the calm waters, and many little hills, had time to indulge in great Vietnamese cuisine, relax on the sun deck and kayak through caves.

Here is the link to the pics on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41451886@N08/sets/72157622306406369/
I have decided not to add them to this blog anymore, as only the last 10 albums can be displayed.

As I have received a nudge to update my blog recently (very justified!) and I don't have any pics on me, I thought I'd let you know about my latest purchase - REMEDICa - a natural/organic handcream, based on Shea Butter and figs, from Australia. It smells like x-mas cookies and it works wonders on very dry hands (eg from climbing). Here is the link: http://www.remedica.com.au/index.php?target=products&product_id=29789

Last night was great. Our colleagues organized a real 8 course Chinese wedding dinner at the Nobel House. We had Peking duck, chicken, tofu, vegies, rice and lots more. We sat in one of the private rooms, which was perfect as we were singing karaoke, sometimes quite out of tune. Of course there were games and Troy, and all the other guys had to take apples our of a water bowl spelling my name. And not to forget the wedding speech by a marriage-elder, someone who has been married for 22 years, giving us marriage advise. The golden rule is: the woman is always right. I like that guy! According to tradition, each wedding wish was accompanied by a loooong yam-tseng!
Oh, by the way, Troy got a T-shirt saying "Sorry girls, I'm taken" and I had one with "Propriety of the groom. Now and forever". Thanks everyone!

We were taken to Tamarind Springs last night for our first wedding dinner and REALLY, EXTREMLY enjoyed the food there. It's a mix of cambodian/laotian and other asian influences. We had stuffed crabs, banana flower salad, soft shell crab, caramelized chicken, spinach with yellow bean sauce, beef/asparagus, etc. As we were sitting on an open terrace with soft lights, surrounded by jungle, the ambience was great, but too dark to take any good pics. thank you!

Celebrations for our big day in less than 3 weeks will start tomorrow. I like that! We'll be going to Tamarind Springs for a dinner with friends tomorrow. Then next week Saturday, some work colleagues will 'take us out'. I already found out that this will involve a 10 course chinese meal and that we will be given 'outfits to wear' and that there will be karaokee. Soooo, who votes for my future husband singing a song for me? :-)

We just had friends from Austria over for a week long visit and showed off KL. This meant going to local places for chinese food and then heading out to some great bars. The verdict was unanimous -> Luna Bar is still the best. Chilling out in a private booth, next to a pool with view of the towers can't be beaten easily. But maybe there are cooler bars in Hong Kong? I shall find out soon...

We also went for a long weekend to Perhentian island. While the island was alright by means of clear water and great beach, it was rather crowded and we saw ourselves surrounded by germans, dutch and asian groups. Oh well, saw lots of clownfish though...

Yeay, only 1 day to go! I'm planning to have my climbing lesson Friday night and Sunday as well. Other than that, we'll be going for thai with some friends and I have to stock up on tropical fruits for our next visitors on Tuesday. Oh yes, and shoes for the 'event' have to be bought as well. Nearly all done though...

A brief note on today's lunch - since most things here evolve around food, my blog has kind of developed in this direction as well. We went to a chinese vegetarian place and it was awesome! So many dishes to choose from - so I had tofu with black beans, various greens, tofu with mushrooms and roast pumpkins. I started to bring my own rice to work, as its usual to have plain white rice here, and I prefer the red rice, for taste and health reasons.

Rice cookers are such a handy thing. I soak the rice overnight and in the morning just press the 'on' button. By the time we are ready to leave, the rice is done. :-)

... and this one was quite eventful. Well, on Saturday, I went shopping for the 'event' with a friend, and later on with Troy and we ended up in a cosy italian eatery, having a nice meal. Today morning, we went to play golf with some friends, followed by a very nice japanese lunch at the golf course. As I told myself that I would go climbing to the new gym, about 1 min walk from our apartment, every 2nd day, I dutifully went after golf and totally exhausted myself. Well, my climbing teacher still manages to exhaust me more, but it's only human to not try kill youself, right? ;-) Sunday is also our grocery shopping evening, so I went to the night market and got our weekly load of fruit and vege. Mangosteens (the queen of fruits) are in season :-). Now i am home, very tired (in a good way) and waiting for the chicken curry to be done, that my husband to be has been cooking. Probably will read my book afterwards...

Malaysia is known for its sales. There are sales on nearly all year round, so one has to become a sales specialist! This means for me that unless its a warehouse sale and its at least 50% off I don't even bother. So I got all excited when the big bad wolf booksale came up, as prices were around EUR 0.60 to EUR 1.6 per book. And I was sooo not disappointed. :-) Of course I came home with books I normally wouldn't have bought, but hey, it's all about expanding your horizon, right? (and doing it cheaply...)